Hancock Field Air National Guard Base has no base housing and no temporary lodging, so everyone assigned to the 174th Attack Wing lives off base. That includes full-time Guard members, drill-status airmen who come in for training weekends, and families moving to Central New York for a longer stay. The upside is location. The base sits on the north side of Syracuse with three interstates close by, so several suburbs are within a 25-minute drive.
This guide covers where the base is, how long the drive is from the towns around Syracuse, and what to check before you rent or buy.
Where Hancock Field is
The base is at 6001 East Molloy Road in Mattydale, in the Town of Salina, on the grounds of Syracuse Hancock International Airport. Downtown Syracuse is about five miles south. Interstate 81 runs just west of the base and the New York State Thruway, I-90, runs just south of it. I-481 loops around the east side of the city and meets I-81 north of the airport. That road network is why the drive from the eastern and northern suburbs stays short.
The 174th Attack Wing flies the MQ-9 Reaper, and the base is also home to the 274th Air Support Operations Squadron. The wing flew F-16s here until 2010 and was called the 174th Fighter Wing, a name you’ll still see on older pages. It also runs an MQ-9 formal training unit, so some airmen come for a course rather than an assignment. If that’s you, the Hancock Field page here on MilitaryBases.us has a lodging number. The rest of this guide is for people settling in.
Drive times from towns around Syracuse
| Town | Distance to the base | Drive in light traffic |
|---|---|---|
| North Syracuse | 4 miles | 10 minutes |
| Downtown Syracuse | 5 miles | 10 minutes |
| Cicero | 7.5 miles | 12 minutes |
| Liverpool | 6.5 miles | 15 minutes |
| Minoa | 8.5 miles | 15 minutes |
| Fayetteville | 10 miles | 20 minutes |
| Manlius | 12 miles | 20 to 25 minutes |
| Baldwinsville | 15 miles | 25 minutes |
| Chittenango | 16.5 miles | 30 minutes |
| Cazenovia | 21 miles | 35 to 40 minutes |
| Skaneateles | 25 miles | 40 minutes |
These are routing estimates from each village center to East Molloy Road, without traffic. Add time for the morning rush, and more on snow days.
Shortest drive: North Syracuse, Cicero, Liverpool and Baldwinsville
If the commute matters most, look north and west of the airport. North Syracuse, a village that sits in the towns of Clay and Cicero, is about 10 minutes from the base. Cicero is about 12 minutes, and the town reaches north to the shore of Oneida Lake. Liverpool, on Onondaga Lake, is about 15. Farther west, Baldwinsville, a village on the Seneca River, is about 25 minutes away.
School districts here don’t follow town lines. Clay and Cicero are each split among several districts, so confirm the district for every address you look at, not just the town.
A 20-minute drive with a village center: Manlius, Fayetteville and Minoa
East of the city, the Town of Manlius has three villages, Manlius, Fayetteville and Minoa, plus hamlets such as Kirkville. The 2020 Census counted 33,712 people in the town. From Fayetteville or Manlius it’s about 20 minutes to the base, most of it on I-481, and Minoa is closer to 15. Each village has its own main street, Green Lakes State Park sits on the eastern edge of Fayetteville, and the Old Erie Canal trail runs along the north side of the town.
Two things catch newcomers out. A Fayetteville mailing address doesn’t always mean the Village of Fayetteville, because the 13066 ZIP code reaches beyond the village and into neighboring DeWitt. The town is also split between school districts. Fayetteville-Manlius serves much of it, East Syracuse Minoa serves Minoa and other areas, and small parts fall in the Jamesville-DeWitt and Chittenango districts.
Redfin reported median sale prices of about $385,000 in Manlius and $358,000 in Fayetteville for the three months ending September 2026. For current listings, and an explanation of which village, town and school district a given address falls in, see this guide to homes for sale in Manlius and Fayetteville from Limestone Creek Properties, an independent brokerage based in nearby Cazenovia.
Farther out: Chittenango, Cazenovia and Skaneateles
If you’d trade a longer drive for a small town, Chittenango is about 30 minutes east of the base. Cazenovia, a lake village in Madison County, is 35 to 40 minutes. Skaneateles, at the north end of Skaneateles Lake, is about 40 minutes to the southwest. In winter those drives take longer, because more of the route is on two-lane roads.
What to check before you rent or buy
Your housing allowance. If you’re on full-time orders and draw BAH, the rate is set by your duty station’s ZIP code, not by where you live. Living farther out doesn’t change it. Compare the cost of a longer commute with what you’d save on rent or a mortgage, and look up the current rate in the Defense Travel Management Office’s BAH calculator.
VA loan eligibility. National Guard members can qualify for a VA-backed home loan, but eligibility depends on your service history. VA lists the routes for Guard members, including six creditable years of Guard service or at least 90 days of qualifying active duty. Request your Certificate of Eligibility from VA before you start looking at houses, so your lender knows what you can use. Our VA loan FAQ covers the common questions.
The school district for each address. Around Syracuse, a mailing address or town name doesn’t tell you the school district. Check the exact address with the district before you sign or make an offer.
Property taxes. In New York, school taxes make up a large share of most property tax bills, and they depend on the school district. Ask for the current tax bills on any home you’re considering.
Winter. Syracuse averages about 127 inches of snow a year, based on 1991 to 2020 records at the airport. Ask who plows the driveway and how quickly the street gets plowed, and if you can, drive the route to the base on a winter morning before you commit.
Your lease. If you rent while you’re on active-duty orders, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act may let you end the lease early for a PCS move or a deployment of 90 days or more. Read the lease’s military clause before you sign.
Start with the commute
Pick the longest drive you’d accept on a February morning, then look only at towns inside that limit. Within 25 minutes of the base you can choose a suburb 10 minutes away in North Syracuse or a village street in Fayetteville or Manlius. Push it to 40 minutes and the lake villages of Cazenovia and Skaneateles come into range.